Missouri governor indicted over handling of charity donor list

St. Louis prosecutors filed criminal charges against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on Friday over his handling of a donors list for his veterans charity, the newest controversy for the governor, who is facing separate allegations of blackmail and sexual assault and a felony charge alleging invasion of privacy.

Missouri’s attorney general, Josh Hawley, announced on Friday that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner had found probable cause to file criminal charges against the governor in the case. Prosecutors allege that Greitens improperly used the donor list for his charity organization, The Mission Continues, during his 2016 political campaign.

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“These are serious charges — and an important reminder that no one is above the law in Missouri,” Hawley said in a statement.

Greitens, a Republican, is facing mounting calls and pressure to resign from GOP officials in his own state and elsewhere. In a lengthy statement issued Friday, Greitens was defiant and claimed prosecutors were unfairly targeting him:

"Two months ago, a prosecutor brought a case against me. She claimed she had evidence of a crime — but she’s produced none. She said her investigator would find the truth. Instead, her investigator lied under oath and created false evidence. And she is using thousands and thousands of taxpayer dollars to do all of this. Her case is falling apart — so today, she’s brought a new one."

It continued: "By now, everyone knows what this is: this prosecutor will use any charge she can to smear me. Thank goodness for the Constitution and our court system. In the United States of America, you’re innocent until proven guilty."

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Greitens also defended his work with the Mission Continues charity saying that in "seven years I ran that organization, we helped thousands of veterans, won national awards for excellence, and became one of the finest veteran’s charities in the country."

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, also a Republican, said last week he was “deeply troubled” by allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Greitens, adding that calls for him to step down were a “reasonable request.”

Greitens was accused of forcing a woman into oral sex in 2015 as outlined in a scathing report released last week by the Missouri House of Representatives. The woman, with whom Greitens had an affair, says the governor barred her from leaving his basement and forced her to engage in oral sex while she cried “uncontrollably.”

In sworn testimony to state lawmakers, the woman said Greitens blindfolded her, tore open her shirt, pulled her pants down, photographed her without her consent and spat on her face, calling her “a little whore.”

The woman’s ex-husband also alleges that Greitens sought to use the unauthorized photo to blackmail her.

Greitens has acknowledged the affair while strongly denying the criminal allegations, including blackmail.

In a separate indictment in February, Greitens was charged with a felony count of invasion of privacy for taking the photo of the woman without consent. A local judge on Thursday threw out a motion from Greitens’ legal team to have the criminal case dropped, clearing way for the trial to begin next month.

Despite the growing political scandal, Greitens has denied wrongdoing and vowed to remain in office.

He has called Gardner a “reckless liberal prosecutor” and labeled the state’s investigations into him as a “political witch hunt.”